Leo Knows
by LERDM
Summary: Three times Leo saved his brothers from mind control and one time they saved him. In which they are astounded by how much Leo truly knows them and how little they know him. Family fluff, some gore, Leo-centric.
1. Chapter 1

3 time Leo saved his brothers from mind control and one time they saved him...

Chapter 1, Don

* * *

It happened unexpectedly, Leo and Raph went off to scout something out, leaving Don and Mikey behind on the rooftop to wait for a signal. What none of them knew was that this was a trap, the Foot had baited the turtles with false information. They were hoping for Leonardo, but after seeing the orange one and the purple one they decided that they would settle with the purple one. The master didn't like the loud, undisciplined nature of the orange one.

Quickly, Don and Mikey were overwhelmed with foot ninja, though Mikey noticed that they seemed to be concentration mostly on splitting them up. By the time Leo and Raph got there, they had taken Don and left Mikey with some injuries that none of them knew how to handle.

"Raph," Leo instructed, "Take Mikey back to the lair, I'm going to follow them to see where they go." He didn't wait to hear Raph's response to that before running off after the foot and Donnie.

After they had been running for about 20 minutes, they reached an abandoned warehouse and they took Donnie inside. Leo watched from a window as Baxter Stockman appeared to bring out another one of the mind control worms, but this one looked a bit different, it seemed smaller.

Leo quickly made his way into the warehouse and shouted, "Let him go!"

Donnie looked over at him with wide eyes, "Leo!" He cried, but before he could say anything else, Stockman released the worm onto Donnie, who then screamed in pain.

Leo's face paled and he clenched his jaw, he was about to run over to Stockman and maybe just kill him, but then a familiar figure stepped out from the shadows, it was the Shredder.

He laughed evilly, "Your brother is mine now Leonardo, but as skilled as this..." The Shredder stopped for a moment, "Purple turtle is, you'd be a much more fitting addition, perhaps your dear brother will get you for me." The Shredder laughed again.

Donatello ceased struggling and a blank look came across Donnie's face, like his mind was completely empty, it saddened Leo to see him like this, but vowed to get him back or die trying.

"Donnie, you're my brother and I love you. I'm sorry, because I don't tell you that enough. And if you need to hit me, do it, because it won't change a thing." Leo said.

Donnie approached Leo until they were only a meter or two apart, Donnie swung his staff and hit Leo's arm. He winced, but it wasn't that bad, Donnie kept swinging, and soon all over Leo's body there were dark, and occasionally bloody, marks all over his body. He was kneeling and breathing heavily, when Leo looked up at Donnie he could start to see that his Donnie was starting to push through, "It's alright Donnie, keep fighting." He said, just before he was handed a blow to the side of his face that snapped his head around.

Leo turned his head and spit out blood before turning to Donnie and seeing that he was himself again, Leo smiled weakly.

"Leo!" Donnie gasped quietly and helped him up, "I'm so sorry, I-"

"Donnie." Leo said grabbing his shoulders, "You have to go, okay?" Leo glanced over to the Shredder who was very angry.

"No Leo, I can't-"

"Donnie listen to me, I ran across the city, I can't run anymore, I'll slow you down and they'll catch us. You need to go. Now!" Leo shouted, and Donnie was slightly startled, "Donnie please."

Donnie nodded and ran to the window that Leo had come in from, fighting the few foot that stood in his way, he looked back at Leo, who had his swords drawn and was in a fighting stance and he glared down the Shredder who was coming towards him, and there was no doubt about it, he was going to need help, more help than Donnie alone could give him.

* * *

Later that night...

It had been an hour since Leo disappeared after Donnie and Raph came home with Mikey who was still unconscious. April came over and said that she thought that he would be okay, that he was just tired, but Raph would have trusted it more if it had come from the mouth of Donnie.

April decided to stay, since they didn't know what condition Leo or Donnie would be in if-when they got back.

April, Raph and Splinter were watching a news channel when they heard the entrance to the lair open. Raph jumped to his feet, ready to greet Leo, either with or without Donnie. What he saw however was surprising, it was Donnie, alone.

"Don?" Raph asked in surprise.

"Raph, quick you gotta get over there, the Shredder, they-he, Leo, they're gonna kill him!" Donnie shouted, shoudlers heaving from running all the way back here.

"Where's the warehouse?" Raph asked quickly.

"On 23rd and-"

"50th, Raph look." April said, and turned up the volume on the TV.

"There has been a major explosion at an abandoned warehouse on 23rd and 50th, we are uncertain what caused the explosion..." The newscaster said.

Raph's heart sunk, "I-I'm gonna go look around there, he might've made it out."

Splinter shook his head numbly and said, "Go."

Raph ran out of the lair and headed towards the warehouse. He actually wasn't that far from the lair when he spotted a glint of metal behind a chimney. Raph carefully approached it just in case it was another trap, but as he turned the corner and saw green, he sprinted the last few steps.

"Leo!" Raph cried.

Leo, who was surprisingly conscious said, "Hey Raph, did Donnie make it home alright?"

Raph looked at Leo with narrow eyes, Leo was actually sitting there, clutching his bleeding side with a three deep cuts on his shoulder, but just asked if Don made it home alright. Typical.

"Yeah, Don's fine, real worked up over you though." Raph said, "Can you walk?"

"I think so." Leo said, Raph helped him up and as they began to walk he asked, "Is Mikey okay?"

"Yeah, April thinks 'es just got a concussion. Should be fine in a week'r two."

"Good, that's good." Leo said, and it was becoming obvious to Raph that he was a bit out of it.

"And uh, what about you? What happened?" Raph asked.

"Well, they used that mind control worm on Donnie, and then the Shredder showed up, so..." Leo trailed off.

"So when ya snapped Donnie out of it ya sent him to us and took the Shredder on your own?" Raph asked slightly angrily.

Leo didn't answer, and Raph felt bad for snapping at him, he could tell Leo was losing strength fast. When they reached the lair Mikey was sitting on the couch and Donnie was pacing in front of the door.

Donnie looked wide eyed as Raph and Leo emerged, "Guys." He said, rousing April and Mikey.

"Leo!" Mikey and April said simultaneously.

Don jumped right into doctor mode, "Raph lay him here!"

Splinter looked over his son while April and Donnie coordinated. Leo was covered in harsh bruises, and he had three long, deep cuts that started on his plastron and ended on the softer flesh of his shoulder.

Splinter, Raph and Mikey were then ushered out by Donnie who said he needed some space and some quite to help Leo, after about half and hour Donnie and April came out, April left and as soon as she did, the carefully built facade crumbled and he completely broke down.

"My son," Splinter began, "What is the matter?"

"I-I did that." Donnie said, "I hurt Leo." He started sobbing again.

"Donnie, wha'd'ya mean? That was the Shreddah." Raph said.

"No, well, not all of it. Remember those mind control worms?" Donnie asked and Raph shuddered. "The ones they tested on Raph and the Mutanimals were just prototypes, they've been developing them."

"So what happened?" Mikey asked curiously.

"Well, he just-" Donnie stopped, "Leo didn't do anything, he said that he doesn't tell us he loves us enough and that he was sorry, he just let me hit him, over and over again, and finally I regained control... but the Shredder was there and Leo was too weak to run so he told me to run as fast as I could and go home and just leave him there." Donnie had calmed down by the end of his tale.

"But Donnie, that wasn't you." Mikey said.

"If Leonardo didn't want to get hurt he wouldn't have." Splinter said cryptically.

"What the shell's that supposed to mean?" Raph asked.

"It means that Leonardo was sending a message to the Shredder, a message that the bonds of family will always prevail." Splinter explained and the brothers nodded in understanding.

Suddenly they heard a scoff from behind them, "Sure, let's all think I'm that clever." Leo spoke. He was leaning against the door way to Donnie's makeshift medical center.

"Leo, you shouldn't be up!" Donnie cried.

"Donnie, I'm fine." Leo said firmly.

"Then why don't you walk over here?" Raph asked, knowing he couldn't, Leo glared at Raph, "What? It's true Leo, you can't just go and run off and go all Rambo on your own. You know how worried we all were when we heard on the news that the warehouse blew up?! We thought you were dead Leo, you know how that feels?" Raph ranted.

"Yeah, it's like how I felt when I saw them dragging Donnie off, or how I feel every time you run into something without thinking it over first." Leo responded smugly.

"That's not- it's not-" Raph tried to argue with him but upon seeing the look on Mikey, Splinter and Donnie's face, he knew he was on the losing side of this argument.

"Well I'm gonna go back to sleep now." Leo said as he slowly and slightly painfully shuffled back into the med-room.

* * *

That night...

Donnie was having a terrible nightmare...

*Dream Sequence*

Leo was standing in front of him at the warehouse, "Donnie, you're my brother and I love you. I'm sorry, because I don't tell you that enough. And if you need to hit me, do it, because it won't change a thing." Leo said. So far the dream was exactly the same as what had really happened.

"Kill Leonardo." The Shredder commanded, this was a bit different.

Donnie advanced on Leo, but he released the latch that kept the hidden blade inside the bowstaff inside. And just like what had really happened Leo didn't do anything, and so Donnie watched himself hack Leo to pieces, and when he finally came to Leo said, "I love you Donnie."

Donnie woke up with a scream in his throat, "Are you okay?" Leo asked from behind him, and Donnie, not knowing Leo was there, screamed again.

"Leo, god, you just scared the shell out of me." Donnie said.

Leo looked at him suspiciously, "What was it about?"

"What?" Donnie asked, confused.

"Your nightmare." Leo said.

"I uh..." Donnie was going to brush him off, but Leo had on a look that Donnie knew meant he wasn't going to back off this. "It was about last night." He said simply, but Leo gestured for him to continue, "I...I killed you."

Leo smiled kindly, "Donnie, I wouldn't have let you kill me, and from his tone, I don't think the Shredder would have let you either."

Donnie sighed, Leo was right, as always, "Sorry for waking you up."

"I was already awake." Leo said and Donnie looked at the clock, it was 3:39am, and as Leo hobbled away Donnie wondered what Leo's nightmares were like.


	2. Chapter 2

Three times Leo saved his brothers from mind control and one time where they saved him...

Chapter 2, Raph

* * *

Raph and Leo were in a bit of a pickle, they were standing back to back in the middle of a circle of foot ninja, none of them were attacking, just standing there. Then they suddenly parted and through the gap walked the Shredder. Raph and Leo shared a concerned glance, but then they hardened, neither of them knew it, but both of them were thinking that they were glad Don and Mikey weren't here to see this.

The Shredder then said something in Japanese and Leo's eyes widened, he gave Raph a shove, and it was only when Raph looked up that he understood what had happened. Leo had a dart sticking out of his neck and was starting to stumble, he eventually fell to his knees.

The Shredder laughed, "The only way I could have more certainly sedated Leonardo than aim at him was to aim at you."

"Why you little-" Raph started angrily but was cut off.

"Now now little turtle, your brother lasted nearly an hour against the foot and the Kraang combined, will you?" Tigerclaw said, stepping out from the shadows.

Raph's eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen, he was going to have to fight to get himself and Leo out of this. He got ready, sai's drawn and in a crouched stance, but when the fight was about to start Stockman entered loudly and all eyes turned to him.

"Master Shredder, sorry to interrupt, but-"

"But what?! I told you not to interrupt this!" The Shredder roared.

"Yes but Master, you wanted to know when the serum was complete." Stockman said, and a grin slowly spread itself out across the Shredders face.

"Ah yes, well, as it seems Leonardo will be of no use to us currently, why don't we try it out on the protective brother, Raphael." Tigerclaw said.

"Sorry to disappoint fella's, but Leo's the protective one, I'm the one with anger issues." Raph flashed a terrifying grin and charged right at the Shredder and Stockman, something no one was expecting, but as fast as Raph was, the Shredder was faster, he grabbed the needle from the velvet lined case Stockman had brought and as Raphael charged, he stuck it into his thigh and quickly released its contents.

Raph stumbled backwards and fell right beside Leo, who seemed like he was starting to come to, the sedative was only made so that they could pry him away from his brothers if need be, so it wasn't extremely strong, just fast acting.

"Raph, are you okay?" Leo asked him, but to Raph, his voice was distorted, his vision looked like he was in a fishbowl. "Raph?" Leo asked again and then turned to Shredder, "What did you do to him?!"

"Made him mine, no words can reach him now." The Shredder said.

Raphael stood, but not of his own accord, he drew his sai's and pointed them at Leo, who, internally was going 'Not Again.'

The engaged in a fight, Leo was still a little groggy and so at the beginning Raph managed to slash Leo's left leg, and Leo realized a priority was to disarm Raph, and so tried to. He earned a few more gashes, but eventually he did disarm Raph. Leo then sheathed his katana's, he didn't want to hurt Raph.

Leo was desperately trying to think of a way to snap Raph out of it, but like the Shredder promised, words did no good. Then Leo had an idea, but it was risky, and he also had no idea what he would do if he managed to snap Raph out of it, they were still surrounded by many, many foot and Shredder himself. But it didn't matter, because he wasn't going to leave Raph behind.

As they circled each other, Raph made the first move and charged at him, Leo positioned himself perfectly, and so instead of meeting Raph's fists, he was giving him a big hug, pinning his arms to his body. Raph thrashed against him, but Leo's grip held firm, and eventually Raph stopped thrashing. Leo pulled away slightly and loosened his grip to see if Raph had snapped out of it, but the mind controlled Raph was a little more clever than that. He kicked Leo to the ground and jumped on top of him, he punched him in the face over and over again.

"Raph please, please." Leo gasped between punches, and something about seeing his older brother, his hero, begging him to stop hurting him, that made something snap within Raphael. He let out a guttural shout and collapsed next to Leo, who was groaning and attempting to sit up.

Leo was very dizzy, his head was spinning, but he knew they had to get out of here, he looked over to Raph, who appeared to be unconscious, and he cursed under his breath, this was going to be harder than expected. Leo looked up to the roof of the building they were in and saw there were large rafters and a skylight, he still had his grappling hook gun on his belt. With great speed Leo heaved Raph over his shoulder and fired the gun into the rafters, quickly, they were speeding towards the skylight, which Leo broke with his body. They rolled out onto the roof and Leo looked around and noticed a fire escape, thank goodness, he wasn't sure how they would've gotten down otherwise.

Leo picked up Raph again and carefully began to descend down the fire escape. It was very hard, Raph was the heaviest of them all, he had a lot of bulky muscle, not like that was of any help right now. Leo's arms burned, but he couldn't stop now. When he finally reached the ground he was glad to see that there were not yet foot waiting for them on the ground, He put Raph down and removed the lid to the sewers, he then lowered Raph down before climbing in himself, he covered the manhole.

He picked Raph up, and staggered a bit, as the adrenaline was wearing out so was Leo's strength, they had lost their shell-cells a while back so Leo couldn't call Donnie or Mikey to help him. His head was swimming and his legs were burning, he was bleeding, rasping for breath, his vision was becoming blurry, but he kept going, because this was his brother, and he wasn't going to let him down.

Finally he walked into the lair and called "Donnie!" it wasn't too loud, but quickly both Donnie and Mikey ran in just as Leo collapsed and dropped Raph.

* * *

Leo opened his eyes and looked around, Raph was asleep in a chair next to him, and Donnie and Splinter were chatting at the foot of the cot. Donnie noticed he was awake and said "Leo, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a car." Leo said with a raspy voice, this woke up Raph.

"Leo, you're up!" He said excitedly, "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Leo asked, sitting up slightly and wincing.

"No, the last thing I can remember is you getting shot with that dart." Raph said, "How did we get out of there?"

"You don't remember, that's good, that's good." Leo mumbled before slipping back into sleep.

Donnie, Splinter and Raph shared concerned glances.

* * *

The next time Leo woke up, Mikey was with him.

"Leo, dude..." Mikey said with concern before yelling, "Donnie!" Leo winced at the volume, "Oh, sorry dude."

"How long have I been out?" Leo aske, sitting up in the bed.

"A few days, Donnie said that you had a lot of blood loss and you have a pretty bad concussion." Mikey explained.

"Yeah... that's what it feels like." Leo said, stretching his arms over his head.

Donnie came in followed by Raph, "How are you feeling?" Donnie asked.

"Sore, and I have a headache." Leo told him honestly, "But other than that I'm okay."

"Alright, well, I took the stitches in your leg out yesterday so if you aren't in much pain then you can do whatever I guess." Donnie told him.

"Great." Leo said and swung his legs over the bed.

"Woah, not so fast Fearless, you gotta tell us what happened." Raph said.

Leo looked at Raph with a slightly sad expression, and started, "Do you, do you remember a while ago when the Shredder used that mind control worm on you, and then used a better one on Donnie?" Leo asked, "Well, they've been upgrading, there's no worm anymore, it was a needle with a purple liquid I think." Leo said.

Donnie then turned to Raph, "Was that what you said hit Leo in the neck?"

"No." Raph and Leo said at the same time, making knowing eye contact.

"It wasn't your fault Raph." Leo said.

"Wasn't my fault?! Really?!" Raph shouted, "You heard what the Shredder said!"

"No, Raph, I chose to do that, you didn't." Leo said.

"If I knew Japanese, if I had trained as hard as you do then I would've been able to stop it, I-I'm so sorry bro." Raph said, his anger dissipating.

"Don't be sorry Raph, you didn't do anything." Leo replied, "It was the Shredder."

"Why didn't you do something? Were you just going to let me kill you? I wasn't even hurt Leo! You didn't fight with your swords? Why?" Raph demanded, his anger beginning to build again.

"I didn't want to hurt you, Raph-"

"I don't want to hurt you! None of us do!" Raph yelled, he didn't notice that Splinter had heard the racket and had come to investigate.

"Raphael, that is enough." Splinter said sternly.

Raph quickly turned to face Master Splinter, "But-"

"No, Leonardo did what any of you would have done." Splinter said.

"I don't think so." Donnie pipped up, and they all turned to face him, very surprised that he was participating in the argument. "How far would you have gone? If it came down to the two of you?" He asked Leo.

Leo sighed, "If there was no other choice I would have let him kill me."

"Did the idea of running and getting backup ever cross your mind?" Donnie asked.

"Okay, well I apologize for not wanting to leave any of you to the whims of the Shredder alright?!" Leo snapped, "I know, I know what that's like and I don't-" Leo took a deep breath, "I would do whatever it would take to make sure that never happened to you guys."

Everyone was silent, especially as they recalled the night Leo was referring to, when he was ambushed and had to fight for his life for hours without end.

Leo stood and left the room without another word.

* * *

That night/early morning Leo woke with a strangled scream, he quickly got up and paced around in his room for a moment, he actually couldn't remember what it was about, but his heart was racing.

Then he heard a light knocking on the door of his room, "Come in." He said quietly.

To Leo's surprise it was Donnie.

"Are you alright?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Leo said warily. He grabbed his katana's from the chair they were hanging on and walked past Donnie out of his room while strpping them on his back.

"Where are you going?" Donnie asked, following him through the hallway.

"I'm going for a run." Leo replied shortly.

Donnie looked at his retreating figure oddly and then looked at the clock, it was 4:07am.

* * *

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who's followed/favourited! A special thanks to leggo lover 99, yukio87 and the guest who reviewed!


	3. Chapter 3

Three times Leo saved his brothers from mind control and one time they saved him...

Chapter 3, Mikey

* * *

The turtles were on what was supposed to be a regular patrol, Leo was running at the front when he suddenly stopped and raised his fist in a signal that they should stop.

Raph approached Leo, "What's going on?" He asked quietly.

"Someone's watching us." Leo said quietly, looking around in suspicion.

"I don't s-" Mikey began, but was cut of by Leo shouting something. What it was Mikey was not able to discern because he was soon overcome with a burning sensation throughout his body, every movement was agony. He looked down at his arm and saw there was a dart in it, he pulled it out and then everything went black for Mikey.

Leo's eyes widened when he saw the color of the serum, it looked like the same stuff that Stockman had made for Raph. Leo immediately grabbed Mikey's nunchaku, knowing that they were very dangerous.

"Leo what're you doing?" Raph asked.

"This is the serum, the mind control serum!" Leo said frantically, and Raph and Donnie shared very concerned glances. Leo quickly stood and looked around to try and see where it came from, but he didn't see anything, yet he could still sense that someone was watching.

"Where did that come from?" Donnie asked.

"I don't know." Leo replied.

Mikey then started moving, twitching at first, but then his eyes opened and he jumped to his feet. His whole stance, his posture, it was so not Mikey, and Leo knew that the serum was more effective this time. When Raph had been under the influence of the serum, he still fought like Raph, but now it was becoming apparent that that would not be the case this time around.

Donnie, who was the closest to Mikey, was the first to react, but not quick enough, just as Donnie had drawn his bow staff Mikey had kicked him so hard he was flying into a brick wall, and luckily not off the side of a building.

Leo ran up behind Donnie and picked up his bow staff, knowing that it would do much less damage to Mikey than his katanas, and also, if Donnie's unmoving form was anything to go by, Donnie wouldn't be needing it for a while.

Leo took cautious steps towards Mikey, "Mikey, I don't know if you can hear me, but try to fight this alright. It isn't a battle we can't fight for you, but you don't have to face it alone."

Raph watched, interested to see what Leo was going to do, but ready to spring into action if needed. He was surprised to see that Mikey seemed to be contemplating Leo's words, but then suddenly, three throwing stars flew at Leo, who managed to block all of them with the bow staff.

Leo's face hardened and he glanced at Raph, who was already moving into a position on the opposite side of Mikey, they momentarily circled Mikey, who seemed to be waiting for them to make the first move, Raph went first and engaged in a flurry of punches and kicks, Raph was at the disadvantage, Mikey was much faster than he was, so without the use of his sais, he was easily beaten and kicked to the side.

Raph landed by Donnie who was just starting to come to, and, both of them knowing that they wouldn't be of any help in their state, they watched Leo.

Leo dropped the bow staff and took out his katanas, but then he did something unexpected by Raph and Don, he threw one to Mikey, who caught it.

"I know you know how to use it, you're faster than me, more agile. This should be no problem for you." Leo said, bending his knees ready for Mikey to come at him.

Mikey stared at the katana and then at Leo, and for a moment, it seemed like a bit of Mikey was coming through, but then he ran at Leo, sword drawn. Leo blocked his initial stab and countered with a harmless kick that sent Mikey stumbling back a few paces. Mikey tried again immediately, and a similar series of events occurred which ended with Mikey stumbling back. This happened several times and it was becoming apparent to Donnie and Raph what Leo's plan was, to exhaust Mikey, Leo was expending nearly zero energy blocking Mikey's attacks, which were pretty weak, leading everyone to believe Mikey was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Then suddenly, Mikey came at Leo with a speed and strength that no one had been expecting from his previous attacks, Mikey managed to knock Leo's sword from his hands and swung his sword at Leo's neck, but just in time he stopped. The blade had slightly cut Leo's neck and there was blood streaming, any deeper there might be trouble, any longer and it was the same.

But Mikey was frozen, on his face Leo could see the conflict. He was afraid to move, not wanting to deepen the cut or startle Mikey, but out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a figure turn and leave, it was the person who had been watching them, but from this distance Leo couldn't tell who it was. When he glanced back at Mikey, he had tears in his eyes and he whimpered, "Leo?" He took away the sword and dropped it. Mikey took a few steps back and looked at Raph and Donnie, who had just gotten to their feet.

"Mikey, it's alright." Leo said, grabbing his neck to prevent excess bleeding. He grabbed Mikey's shoulder with his other hand as a comforting gesture and nodded to reinforce his statement, "We can't stay here, I don't think anyone is still watching, but I can't be sure, we shouldn't be out here right now." Leo told them.

They all nodded solemnly and quietly made their way back to the lair, when they did, no one said a word, not even when Splinter came out from his room to ask what happened, no one answered and they all simply walked off to do their own thing, with the exception of Leo, who went to see Donnie.

"You're lucky Leo, this could've been very bad." Donnie said.

Leo didn't respond, and Donnie wrapped it up in silence, Leo then left the med-bay and was going to go into the dojo, but then Splinter intercepted him.

"Leonardo, a word." He said, walking into his room, Leo following him and shutting the sliding door after him. Despite themselves, both Mikey and Raph were eavesdropping.

"What happened tonight?"

"We were being watched by... someone, I couldn't tell who. I didn't notice until it was too late, I think they fired a dart at us, it hit Mikey. It was some sort of upgrade of the mind control serum that they used on Raph and Donnie." Leo explained quietly.

"Hmm..." Splinter hummed in deep thought, "Are you well?" He asked.

"I'm fine sensei." Leo replied.

"I do not mean physically, Donatello is not the only one who has noticed your strange sleep patterns of late. You look tired, your spirit is weak. What is on your mind?"

"Nothing sensei, I'm fine." Leo said dismissively. Raph and Mikey heard Leo stand and move towards the door and they scattered.

Raph leaped onto the couch and he turned around as he saw Leo walk towards the exit of the lair, "Hey bro, where are you going?" He asked.

"For a run." Was Leo's curt response.

"But dude-" Mikey stopped as Leo completely ignored him and left the lair.

Raph and Mikey shared concerned glances and both of them, without saying a thing they both went to Donnie.

"What's up with Leo?" Raph asked.

"What?" Donnie asked in confusion.

"We heard Splinter talking to Leo about his sleeping patterns?" Mikey questioned.

"Oh, yeah, he's been having bad nightmares, he'll go to sleep around 1am and he'll wake up around 4 and go for a run for two hours and get back before the rest of us wake up, he thinks I don't notice but I do, and so does Master Splinter I guess." Donnie said, "Why? What's up?"

"Leo just went for a run." Raph said and looked at the clock, 2:49 am.

* * *

Authors Note: Okay, so this one was a bit shorter than the rest of them, but the next one will either be really long or a two-parter, or both, we'll see. Big thanks to those who followed/favourited and a special thanks to The-Lithe-And-Lethal, Yukio87 and leggo lover 99 for reviewing! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Three times Leo saved his brothers from mind control and one time they saved him...

Chapter 4, part one, Leo

Authors Note: WOW! Thanks for all the support you guys! :) Also, this chapter starts a few weeks after the last one.

* * *

Raph was worried, correction, they were all worried. Leo had left for a run when he usually did, around 4 am, but usually he got back before any of them woke up, so around 7. It was now 10 and he still wasn't home. Raph and Mikey were standing behind Donnie, who was tracking the location of Leo's shell cell.

"Well that can't be right." Donnie said in confusion.

"What is it?" Mikey asked.

"It's not moving, hasn't moved for hours. It's just in some random place, I don't recognize the address. I'll look it up." Donnie said, he typed and then hummed, "It's by the docks, but he might've just dropped it-"

"Dropped what?" Leo asked, appearing behind them suddenly. They all screamed.

"Leo! What the shell man? Where have you been?" Raph asked angrily.

"Well I went out for my usual run but I dropped my T-Phone somewhere along the way and I went around my whole route again to see if I could find it but I couldn't." Leo explained, he leaned in and noticed the map on Donnie's computer, "How the heck did it get there?"

"You didn't run around the docks?" Donnie asked.

"No." Leo shook his head.

"Hmm..." Donnie said and rapidly typed something into the computer and let out a sigh of realization, "That's an eco-station were they process garbage, I bet you dropped it into a dumpster while you were jumping over an alley and it got taken there." Donnie told them.

Leo shook his head and smiled slightly, "Ah, well sorry Don."

"Oh that's okay, I have a few extra anyways cause I figured Mikey would break one." Donnie said, reaching into a drawer and pulling out another T-Phone exactly the same as his old one. He handed it to Leo.

"Thanks." He walked off to his room.

Mikey was about to leave when Raph blocked him, "Mikey, wait." Raph whispered, Donnie swiveled in his chair to face Raph, "Leo was lying."

"What, dude are you serious? Leo is the worst liar." Mikey said loudly, Raph covered his mouth quickly and looked around.

"Did you see how happy he looked when Donnie said that he must've dropped it while jumping over an alleyway? Leo was using our trust in Donnie to know everything against us." Raph whispered.

Donnie shook his head slightly, "I was with you at the beginning but now you're just sounding like a conspiracy theorist."

"Wait you were with me in the _beginning_?" Raph asked.

"Yeah, I mean," Donnie rubbed his forehead, "Have any of our T-Phones ever fallen off our belts?" Donnie asked and Mikey shook his head, "Not even in the middle of an intense fight would those things fall out." Donnie stated and Raph was nodding, "Also, usually his run loop takes about three hours, so how is it possible that he ran through it two times in five hours. That's too fast, even for him." Donnie said.

"Exactly," Raph said, and then seemed to contemplate something, "I think tomorrow I'm gonna follow him." He declared.

"Raph, that won't work, remember when he told us someone was watching us right before I got hit with that dart? I didn't see or _feel_ anything." Mikey said, "He'll sense you or whatever, in like, one second."

Raph looked contemplative once more, "Donnie, can you set it up so that overnight the tracker on the T-Phone is recording where he's going?"

"Yeah, I think I could do that." Donnie said.

"Guy's, time for training!" Leo yelled from the dojo.

They all shared a nod and went to go train.

* * *

In the past few weeks Leo had been kicking their shells at training, and Master Splinter has no idea where this had come from. Leonardo had always practiced more than his brothers, but now he was taking it to the extreme. Waking up at 4 in the morning for a three hour run, then coming home, training with his brothers, then he eats and then he trains on his own, then he meditates, then he eats, they they patrol, then he sleeps and repeats. This was obviously not healthy, but he seemed so much faster than usual, perhaps that was what he was doing in the early morning.

Splinter's eldest son had been quite unlike himself of late, talking back to Splinter, or completely ignoring him, this was especially true whenever Splinter tried to bring up whatever was obviously weighing on his mind.

"Leonardo." Splinter said, Leo was going through some kata's in the dojo.

Leo's eye twitched slightly, as if he was annoyed by Splinter's presence, "Yes Master Splinter?" He answered.

"How was your run this morning?" He asked, but he said it in a tone that made Leo know that wasn't the real question, so Leo side eyed him an raised an eyebrow and Splinter sighed and continued, "Your brothers were worried about you." He stated, "I was as well." Leo continued to look at him with an unreadable stone face. "I believe I know what you are up to," Splinter started, and Leo's face cracked with an expression of surprise, "And while I do not condone it... I can... appreciate that you do this for them, to try to keep them safe. All that I ask is," Splinter then leaned in and whispered something in Leo's ear, he then pulled away from Leo an said, "I am very proud of you my son."

Now, Mikey, who was absolutely not eavesdropping on Leo and Splinter's conversation up to that point quickly gathered Raph and Don in Donnie's lab. Mikey recounted what he heard to them, both Raph and Donnie listened with avid attentions and when he was finished they were stunned.

"So he is up to something!" Raph said, "I knew it!"

"But the question is what are we going to do about it?" Donnie asked, "If Master Splinter doesn't want him to stop whatever he's going, they why would we?"

"Because, we're a team, and whatever it is he's up to, we should be out there helping him." Raph said. Mikey and Donnie nodded firmly.

* * *

The next morning...

Raph was a bit angry... a bit may be an understatement. Splinter told Leo to fight blindfolded during sparring that morning, and he _still_ managed to beat Raph! Something has gotten into Leo that has lit a spark in him, he was fighting differently, as much as none of them wanted to acknowledge it, Leo was fighting really similarly to the Shredder.

After training was over, Mikey, Donnie and Raph quickly made their way to Donnie's lab. Donnie quickly pulled up a map, and then in red was the route Leo had run that early morning. It was all over the place, and so to make it simpler, Donnie made it so that when Leo had been moving there were thin red lines and when he was in the same spot for a while there was a dot. There two dots on the map, Donnie looked up the location of one of the dots and nothing of significance came up, but when Donnie looked up the second one, they were all surprised.

At least five news articles came up, most of them with a title along the lines of 'Mysterious Man Disrupts Supply Chain of Illegal Chemical Imports'. Donnie clicked on one of the articles and read it:

"Mysterious Man Disrupts Supply Chain of Illegal Chemical Imports

Early this morning an unnamed group of illegal chemical importers were tipped to the police. There was enough evidence that all apprehended suspects will surely be convicted, however, police are still looking for a piece of key evidence. The suspects say that there are paper copies of all their suppliers and clients, but they claim that someone broke in and stole these documents a mere hour before the police arrived."

Donnie read the small excerpt to Raph and Mikey, who were looking with wide eyes.

"So he's been tracking importers of illegal chemicals?" Mikey asked, "That's... kind of lame."

"No, you guys don't understand, not any chemical, one, one specific chemical." Donnie said, "I recognize the name, I found it in Mikey's bloodstream after he was shot with the mind control serum, I think it's an ingredient, an important ingredient."

"So he's trying to stop the Shredder from making more?" Raph asked.

"I think so." Donnie said...

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4, part two, Leo

* * *

Donnie, Raph and Mikey hatched a plan, they would follow Leo at an extreme distance, staying out of view, using the shell cell tracker to stay out of range of Leo's supposed senses. Donnie was going to wake up Raph and Mikey about half an hour after Leo left. So at around 5 am, Donnie woke up his brothers and they headed to the rooftops.

Pretty quickly Donnie noticed something weird, Leo was taking a strange path, and definitely not the route he told Donnie he took for his runs. Then, the tracker stopped moving, and Donnie motioned at the others to stop.

"What's he doing?" Raph asked.

"Mostly wondering what you three are doing." Leo said from behind them.

"Leo!" They are shouted.

"You know, I was just thinking to myself, it sure feels like someone is following me, glad I was right, confused it was you three." Leo said.

"Oh, uh we were just... training." Mikey said.

"Uh, huh." Leo said, giving them a small smile, "You want to go running with me?" He asked.

"Yeah sure!" Mikey said enthusiastically, while Don and Raph shared a concerned glance, not for Leo, but for themselves, knowing they were going to be exhausted by the time this was done.

"Try to keep up, I'd like to be home at 6." Leo said before taking off at a fairly fast pace, which Raph was quite certain he could not attain, but he would be wrong.

After about half an hour Leo was still looking pretty fresh, but Raph was on the verge of some sort of attack, and even Mikey was having a very hard time keeping up. Leo paused and looked behind him at noticed these things, then he stopped and checked the time, 5:24am, he had had plans that night, but it seemed like he would have to put them off.

In his moment of thought he hadn't noticed that the rest of the guys had caught up to him, "Getting tired already?" Raph said between heavy breaths.

"Uh, yeah actually. Let's head home." Leo said and his brothers let out happy sighs.

When they got back to the lair, Splinter was awoken by the ruckus and after seeing the condition of his sons said that they could skip training that morning.

"Leonardo, a word please." Splinter said.

Leo nodded and entered Splinters room, naturally Raph and Donnie stood outside and eavesdropped, unfortunately for them, Leo and Splinter conversed in Japanese, neither Donnie nor Raph spoke Japanese all that well, and oddly enough, the only one of them besides Leo to speak it was Mikey. So Donnie recorded the conversation to show Mikey to get a translation.

When Leo and Splinter finished talking, Leo exited looking slightly angry and left the lair, "Leo where are you going?!" Raph called after him, but he didn't even seem t hear him as he continued his march out.

"Let's get this to Mikey." Donnie said looking at Leo's retreating form with concern.

Raph and Donnie grabbed Mikey and pulled him into Don's lab, "What's going on?" Mikey asked.

"Can you translate this?" Donnie asked Mikey before starting to play the conversation.

"Woah woah woah, that's a bit too fast for me, can you slow it down a bit?" Mikey asked, Donnie pressed some buttons and then it began again in a much slower tempo. "Okay... Splinter asked what we did, and Leo said we just went running, so he didn't get to his task?" Mikey paused and scratched his head before continuing, "Leo asked if he can finish it now, because he doesn't know how long he can keep _this_ up, and Splinter said he doesn't want him to go alone, then Leo said..." Mikey trailed off, a sad look coming across his face.

"Mike, what is it?" Raph asked.

"He said he fights better on his own because he doesn't have to worry about watching our backs." Mikey said.

"Oh whatta lode of shell!" Raph exclaimed.

"Splinter didn't disagree, he just told him that if he didn't return by nightfall he would send us after him." Mikey said, finishing the conversation.

Donnie and Raph were stunned into silence for a moment before Raph stormed out of the lab and towards Splinter's room, "Raph where are you going?" Donnie called.

"I'm gonna get some answers." He said angrily and walked into Master Splinter's room followed by Donnie and Mikey, "Masta Splinter, what the shell is going on with Leo?" He demanded.

Splinter simply looked at the three of them and sighed before speaking, "Your brother has been troubled of late, I'm sure this has not escaped your notice." He said.

"What is he going to do?" Mikey asked.

"Leonardo has always possessed an extremely protective nature over the three of you, more so than you could imagine. He would do anything to keep the three of you safe, and ever since he was ambushed he has been very... afraid, that something similar could happen to one of you."

"He never told us that." Donnie said.

"Why would he? He said it himself, he fights better on his own." Raph said.

"Possibly, but the four of you together are stronger than any one of you alone, I fear that Leonardo may become reckless on his own, he has changed his style to that of the enemy, I'm sure this has not escaped your notice. He is preparing to take the Shredder on his own, when he can be bolder and less afraid. I believe that today he may set in motion a series of events that will lead to this. He is confident he is ready." Splinter said solemnly.

They were all shocked by what they were hearing, and Splinter continued, "I was concerned that if he did so they may do something worse than kill him should he fail."

"The mind control serum, that's why he took out the chemical importers." Donnie said and Splinter nodded.

"So wait, let me get this straight, Leo is on his way right now to fight the Shredder, by himself?" Raph asked.

Splinter nodded silently, "Master Splinter, why would you let him do this on his own?" Mikey asked.

"I believe that for his nightmares to end he has to face them." Splinter said.

"We've let Leo down before, I won't do it again, he would do anything for us, and he should know that we would do anything for him." Raph said, "We're going after him."

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated, I've decided that this will be a three part finale, so hopefully I will have the last chapter up in the next few days, I hoped you enjoyed. Please review/comment, it motivates me to write faster :) thanks!


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